I have not seen the beetle this year like I did last season. I poison them with homemade traps made from plastic corrugated realty signs. I take the traps out during the flow but if I don't have any prospects of honey I leave them in and have considerably reduced the beetle numbers. I know some don't like to use the poison but dang it works great and a little dab will do you.

Actually, someone had made a bunch of those corrugated strips and was giving them out free at our last state beekeeps convention. I didn't know what they were for at the time. Should have taken a handful.

My SHB population is almost zero this time of year. Like was stated, I am sure they are there but just not moving around much. I use the Freeman style ventilated screened bottom board with good success.

I have beetles, but I don't see them having any impact on my 11 hives. I don't use any poisons. I smash them when I can but they are not hurting my hives. The hive that had the most shb (to my eye) had the most honey per frame this year. Is it because I use plastic frames??? Is it because i use feral bees??? I don't have varroa problems either. No chemicals go into the hives. I use sbb and screen tops from march to october but close them up in winter.

This topic is close to my heart. I live at Coffs Harbour NSW Australia which is a sub tropical climate. The last three years have been really wet & SHB are rampant. I have returned to beekeeping after a 20 year break & dealing with SHB has been a sharp learning curve.

I use AJ's beetle eaters which help a bit particularly with nucs. The real key to keeping ahead of them is to keep your hives strong & crowded. Frames not covered with bees are an invitation to SHB & they will be slimed.

It is not uncommon to lift the lid & hive mat to find 20 to 30 beetles making a retreat into the darkness of the hive. One tip is to lay the lid (migratory) on the ground rim up then put the super on top of it. The beetles will retreat to the darkness. When you are finished your inspection there will be beetles inside the lid. Lay into them with your thumb. The bees will help by herding them into the corners. Realistically I think it's futile. Just as many will fly in later in the day.

Another spot that they congregate is in the metal edging around metal queen excluders. I killed about 50 SHB's from the edge of an excluder today. Take it a way from the hive & smoke them out then squash them.

It is tempting to use chemical controls however I am resisting that. Despite the beetles the girls are doing well & I should extract 20 to 30 litres of honey from a couple of hives in the next fortnight if we get a few fine days.

Any frames removed from the hives go into the chest freezer then into several layers of heavy duty garbage bags for storage. I'm thinking of investing in an airtight coolroom or a bigger chest freezer for long term storage.

Despite being sub tropical my hives are located in a spot that gets light frosts in the winter which I think assists with their control but they really get going in the summer. They are also doing well in my worm farms.

I have started to keep a nucleus hive on my verandah so that I can have watch them. It is distressing to see SHB fly into the hive in the evening. They also fly into my beer which is also upsetting. As I write this I have a small pile of them on the table next to my computer.

Despite being sub tropical my hives are located in a spot that gets light frosts in the winter which I think assists with their control but they really get going in the summer. They are also doing well in my worm farms.

Good luck with your SHB control.

I wonder if the snows and below freezing weather we've had here in the south this year will have any effect on out SHB populations this coming year? I sure hope so...

It was a warm day for a change here in the south so I opened my hives to check their food stores. I never saw so many beetles so early in the year as I saw today. In a couple of hives they appeared to eat the eggs as fast as the queen would lay them. I placed traps in all hives.

Steve

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